Communications

The Legitimate Web?
A new World Wide Web for all decent people that is free from deceit, infection and criminal activity. Configured in such a way so as to allow all people who wish to be a part of it to operate safely and with confidence, knowing that they are not going to be targeted by criminals and scumbags...

Static I.P. Addresses for all Households, Businesses and Data Points
A suggestion that all households, businesses and data points should be issued with static (fixed) I.P. addresses as opposed to dynamic (changeable) ones. The I.P. address is the electronic address assigned to any computer or device connected to the internet. Dynamic I.P. addresses are temporary, they change automatically and are shared between users. If all I.P. addresses are fixed and permanently assigned (as with most businesses), people can easily be identified and can be held accountable for any untoward internet activities that may lead to an I.P. address being blocked, such as sending large amounts of spam. It also means that they cannot 'shake off' the I.P. address and pick up a new one to continue those untoward activities, whilst leaving someone completely innocent to get stuck with the blocked I.P. address. For a more comprehensive explanation of why this hasn't been done already please visit this How-To Geek website page.

Alternative Phone Numbers to Special Rate and Non-Geographical Numbers
A call for companies to provide national number alternatives to the special rate and non-geographical numbers that many companies currently use. The reason being that many people now pay a fixed monthly fee for free anytime calls, and if companies do not offer a national number alternative, callers can be billed substantially on top of their telephone package agreement for the facility of phoning them. If companies cannot see their way to providing freephone numbers for their customers, this is the least they could do. Some alternative phone numbers for many companies are listed on the Say No To 0870 website.

Abolish Number Withheld
A call to abolish the number withheld facility, which currently gives rise to many
instances of people receiving disturbing, abusive and nuisance phone calls, something that would not happen if callers could
always be identified. The fact that callers can withhold their number and maintain anonymity actually encourages some people
to indulge in this perverse and sad past time. Nobody should be able to enter your home through the front door without presenting
identification, neither should they be able to enter your home electronically over the phone line. In this day and age it
is not unreasonable to say that if you are not prepared to divulge your number you should not be calling in the first place.

Bar Number Withheld Calls
The telephone service providers do offer a service allowing customers to bar
number withheld calls and in some instances this facility can be turned on and off from your own phone by dialling a code.
If you are getting nuisance calls of any sort from a caller withholding their number, it may be worth enquiring about this
facility. However, currently service providers do charge for this facility and there is some doubt as to whether it is completely effective because callers dialling from a phone that is permanently wired to withhold their number can still get through
the block by dialling a prefix of 1470. Once they have done that, they are able to get through to your phone in the normal
fashion, so enabling anyone who has their number permanently withheld to be able to still contact you. However, when you dial
1471 there is still no record of who is calling you, just an announcement telling you that the caller's number is not available.
Therefore, it appears that paying to bar number withheld calls is a somewhat waste of time and money, because
people can still get through to you without exposing their number. The whole issue needs further investigation so as
to find a way of stopping people abusing the system and being able to make disturbing, abusive and nuisance calls and the simplest solution is to ban this facility, which is not in step with modern security advice and precautions, and which is so open to possible abuse, altogether.

Unwanted Sales Calls
A call for the Government to do more to prevent unwanted sales calls, many of which now come from call centres outside the UK. It seems that registering with the Telephone Preference Service isn't enough to stop this kind of nuisance call, as the guilty parties do not give any consideration to it. Whether it be automated announcements about trips to Florida, or people trying to get details about your finances speaking with a hardly recognisable or understandable foreign tongue, or calls about PPI, etc. It's all a pain when your half way through cooking or eating the dinner or doing anything else for that matter. Especially when it's obtrusive and unwanted!

Where the Government have failed to act, BT have stepped in with their call screening phone. If you're invasive nuisance calls are getting too much and you have a few pounds to spare, check this out and rid yourself of the nuisance altogether.
Product Details at BT.com

Mobile Phone Mast Sharing Scheme
A suggestion that perhaps mobile phone networks could share the same
transmission masts and so alleviate the need for having four network masts in every location. If it were possible for the
networks to share a common mast, or location, the other three masts can go into areas of low coverage where they would then be of more
use, so helping to achieve an even and uniform coverage of the U.K. for all networks.